As The Sun Goes Down
by Jawira707
Summary: After the events of "Thunder in Paradise" Phoebe struggles to come to term with what happened. What did she get her and Max into? Snippet from chapter 1: "We're not fighting Nora" Phoebe replied (...) and Max nodded in agreement. "Well whatever it is you do, whatever that is called…" she continued stomping down the stairs, "If you not gonna stop, I will tell mom!" Read & find out!
1. You Left Me Speechless

HELLLLLOOOO! Did you miss me, huh? It has been way, wayyy too long, I apologize! But let's just take off where we finished.

This is a NEW story I started writing **before the final episode ("Thundergames")**, actually directly after "Thunder in Paradise." Therefore **please note that it maybe won't fit with the season four plot. **

And now, let's just get right into it.

_**Chapter 1: You Left Me Speechless**_

„Well…and we're home again! Whoho!" Billy exclaimed loudly as the Thundermans' family was carrying their luggage into the house. They just had returned from their „vacation" in Hawaii. Their first vacation in three years…that had sounded so good to all of them. Time to relax and have some fun, not worry about school or any duties, taking some pictures and making some memories…

A week ago, who could have known that this trip would have nearly ended the existence of all superheroes? That it- without a lot of luck-could even have ended their…

"Kids, we have to go to the store buy some food, please start unpacking before you do anything else!" Barb said while searching for some money in her bag. "Hank, where are you?"

"He went to get the car, mom" Phoebe replied tiredly as she stepped into the living room , Max right behind her.

"And now, put that down, you don't need to carry this anyway" she continued rather harshly watching as her brother searched for a place to put her suitcase.

"Nah Pheebs, I'm stronger than you think!" he answered jokingly even though he couldn't hide the obvious exhaustion in his voice. The flight hadn't been long, but the trip home had taken a lot longer than expected.

"Stop it. Put it down."

"You know, I would prefer to get it up to your room at once…"

"Listen, I said no!" the girl snapped, before getting up using both arms to push down her case, forcing her twin to let it go. Not having expected that action he lost control over the weight resulting in Phoebe's luggage connecting with the floor with a bang.

"Can't you be more careful?!"

"Me…?! Gosh Phoebe, I am just trying to help you! No, listen! I'm tired too, but…I just"

Max's smile had vanished from his face as he glared angrily at his sister with whom he had been fighting much more again in the recent days without really understanding why.

"Your help is not needed, Max. You can't blame me, because I NEVER asked you to carry ANY of my stuff!"

"Well, MAYBE…"-

"SHUT UP!"

Nora was standing on the stairs and she had apparently been on the way of changing he clothes as one could tell by the missing bow in her hair.

"We have arrived five minutes ago and you are already at each other's troths again!"

"We're not fighting Nora" Phoebe replied without meeting her little sister's eyes and Max nodded in agreement.

"Well whatever it is you do, whatever that is called…" she continued stomping down the stairs and towards the kitchen. "If you not gonna stop, I will tell mom!"

"That's ridiculous" Phoebe whispered more to herself than to Max. "That's just ridiculous"

"I don't know" Max said seemingly a bit lost as he sat down on the sofa, grabbing reaching out for the water bottle on the table. In this heat he wished himself back to the ocean…or Antarctica. Okay, maybe not to Antarctica. He wasn't thinking clearly.

"Max…go unpack your things"

"Why?"

"Why not?" Phoebe asked back, rolling her eyes.

"Who will get your stuff up to your room? "

"I will."

"No, you won't."

"Yes, I will!"

"How? It's too heavy"

"I think of…argh, Max, just leave me alone for god's sake!"

Staring at her for a few seconds longer Max got up making her believe he would do as she had told him. She needed space and he just wouldn't get it. In the last days he had barely left her side and if she wasn't completely wrong, she had seen him exchanging flight tickets with Billy earlier so he could sit next to her.

But even now he wasn't accepting her no.

"Max, I…"

"I don't give a damn Phoebe!" he snapped back using a harsh voice Phoebe had rarely heard and Max usually never directed to her. Then he lifted the suitcase on his shoulders again and disappeared upstairs.

She wanted to tell him that he wasn't her boss, but the words wouldn't come out. Suddenly she felt very stupid about the whole incident.

_**Later, at dinner:**_

The day had been way too short for Barbs liking. There were calls to make and things to get in order before school started again, not mentioning cleaning the house and cooking for seven people. Nevertheless she felt relieved now as they were all sitting together eating, even though nobody seemed in the mood to engage in conversation.

"Mommy, can we go to the beach again?" Chloe asked while chewing on her bread smiling as her dad caressed her little head.

"Someday baby. But first your siblings have to go to school."

"But I don't have to go to school!" she defended her point making her parents chuckle.

"No, not yet."

"I don't need to, I'm smart by myself!"

"Yes, yes you are" Nora said kindly, but then looked apologetically at Billy.

"What? I agree with her!"

It was a nice moment and it felt nearly like everything was okay once more. There were just another family in Hiddenville, their children were busy with their school, their friends and with whatever kids spent their time nowadays.

"Yes, I want some, thank you" Phoebe told her brother who had been pouring water into his glass and was offering it to his sister now.

The twins hadn't spoken the whole time what caused the other family members to shortly glance at them. Phoebe had fallen asleep on her bed ten minutes after entering her room and for some reason she knew Max had done the same in his lair. It was okay, she guessed. They didn't have to be anywhere any time soon today.

"That's enough…"

"Yeah, sorry, I spilled some water."

Later Max thought that he shouldn't have said it. She probably wouldn't have realized it at all.

"Great. Someone get me a tissue."

But there was none to be found that quickly.

"It's just water" Billy said light heartedly "It will dry off."

"I know but I want to do it now" Phoebe repeated a bit louder this time.

Feeling the tension rising slowly, Max got up from his seat. "I'll get you some."

"There's no need. Sit down again."

"That's no problem"

"Max, it's not important!"

"It is important to you!"

"Kids…"Hank slowly started watching the scene with a hint of concern while wondering what was going on with the twins.

"You don't have to"

Phoebe had gripped Max's her brother wrist standing up as well.

"Pheebs, you're acting strange" Nora remarked carefully making her older sister stop in her motion.

"I agree, Phoebe, dear. Are you alright?" her mom added worried. "What is it?"

"It's nothing…" she replied snakingly, softly letting go of Max's hand who wasn't moving an inch from her side as if he wanted to express his silent support towards her.

"I guess…I'm just stressed out. You know…exams and everything."

"Who has exams at the beginning of the year?" Billy asked confused, but Nora motioned him to be quiet.

"We understand that" Hank said sincerely, but continued after exchanging a quick look with his wife.

"But if there's anything else…"

"NO…no, listen…."She didn't know herself what was happening here, she needed no one questioning her about it. Her eyes were burning with unshed tears and she wasn't willing to let them show. Not here. Not in front of her father.

"Phoebe…"

"She doesn't want to talk, dad" Max intervened his face directed to the wall as he spoke.

"I see that, but still…"

"Hank, let it be" Barb came to the rescue observing as Phoebe quickly drank the rest of her water before turning away.

"I'm sorry. I'll go and rest for a while."

"Okay."

After the door had closed Max waited a few seconds- long enough to not meet Phoebe, but not long enough to get questioned about anything- then he left as well leaving a strange silence behind.

"I wonder what's up with Phoebe" Nora eventually brought up, slowly continuing to eat again.

"Me too, dear. But didn't you mention something about Max and Phoebe fighting earlier?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders. "Yes."

"So…couldn't it be that this is why she is so upset?"

At this Nora chuckled a bit to herself while shaking her head. She knew it wasn't funny, it just made her wonder how blind her parents could be at times.

"Nope, I don't know why she is upset, but she's certainly not upset with Max."

Hank and Barb looked at each other again, their faces revealing their lack of understanding.

"Guys, didn't you see what they were wearing?"

"Their clothes?" Billy asked thinking hard, seeming as clueless as the others.

Nora sighed in exasperation.

"They bought each other those for their birthday."

"They did!?"

_**In Phoebe's room:**_

Phoebe was sitting on the edge of her bed starring at the mirror in her hands. Her reflection was blurry, but she could still see her tear stained face.

"That's the protector of Hiddenville" she whispered to herself. "She should be ashamed of herself."

No, I shouldn't be, she scolded herself in her thoughts. Everything was okay, they were all save and even destroyed one of Mayhem's doomsday projects which would have stayed undiscovered for sure.

"I'm not a terrible superhero. I'm the protector of Hiddenville"

For a moment the mirror image seemed to get clearer, but as she couldn't keep the tears from streaming down her face, it got foggy again.

"No she's not."

"Why not?"

Why did she keep talking to herself!?

"She nearly got her twin brother killed" she replied to herself with a cold voice.

"Noo…"

Phoebe threw the mirror away on the ground hearing the glass break from the impact. It wasn't true. She didn't want it to be true.

"I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to" she sobbed into her pillow wishing she could undo her foolish actions, that she could tell Max how much he meant to her and somehow sort out what she was feeling.

I wish Max was here, she thought ignoring the part of her brain that told her how illogical that was regarding the fact she had asked him for more space just hours ago.

But she was scared and she needed to see him. And just him.

Suddenly a loud beep startled her. Probably a welcome back text from Cherry.

Angrily she grabbed her phone from the table wiping her face on the sleeve of her shirt before reading the message.

Hero League…Z-Force…what? She had to reread it again. Her eyes were obviously lying to her.

Concerning recent events…Z-Force…no. No, no, no.

"No!" Phoebe shouted out full off sobbing again as the words started to sink in.

The same moment the door opened to just as quickly get closed again, taking the entering person not more than a second before rushing to her side and taking her in his arms.

How long had he been standing in front of the door anyway? It didn't matter. It had been long enough.

"Shhh…Pheebs, please, don't cry, huh?" he said akwardly.

She didn't answer just holding on to him with all her force. It was over, but at least he was still there.

"Max…I…" Choking on her own words Phoebe felt like the world was closing in around her.

"It's okay Phoebe. It's okay…"

If only he knew. Nothing, nothing was okay.

"Please, don't cry" Max repeated gently but more urgently now hardly supporting to watch her breakdown. It hurt him too much and he just didn't know how to comfort her.

"You'll end up making me cry…you don't want that…"

"I don't…" she started her voice hitching as she grabbed her phone again handing it to him with trembling hands.

"But now I have to"

Not willing to see his reaction to the news, Phoebe decided to bury her head into his sweater again, just listening to his breathing, his chest rising and falling, before she suddenly felt him tense all over.

Squeezing him even tighter, she mumbled some apologies he couldn't really hear. No, Max's eyes were transfixed on the little white screen before him.

It said:

_"__Dear Mrs. Phoebe R. M. Thunderman, _

_we are saddened to inform you that you and your brother were officially excluded from the competition for the two remaining spots at the Z-Force._

_This decision was made by Z-Force advisor Mrs. Helen Sanders, Hero League Security Official Mr. James Acker and Theo R. Dalton, Superagency of Metroburg._

_As the incidents which let to this decision were serious and of high concern for the whole Hero Community, we ask you to join our meeting on the 21__st__ of August, at the Metro Hero Tower for a detailed questioning._

_We expect you both to be there at 7p.m. Don't bring any weapons or your capes which are not allowed due to our security standards. _

_Despite the unpleasant circumstances, we wish you a pleasant day._

_Sincerely,_

_Superpresident E. Kickbutt & H. Sanders  
_

**_End of first chapter_**

**_Thank you sooo much for reading, pls review, it really helps me to continue! I hope you're having a wonderful day!_**

**_xoxo_**

**_Jawi_**


	2. Who Is It?

Hello everbody! Chapter 2! Thank you a lot for the four follows and favs =)! One thing I want to point out about the reviews (in general): if you have any story requests etc., pls send them to me as a personal message (PM) or as an ask on my tumblr page! But now, back to the story!

_**Who Is It?**_

Phoebe didn't know when she had fallen asleep last night but as she woke up this morning she felt way too heavy to get up. Why even bother to stand up anyway? Her bed was warm and comfortable and she didn't have to talk to anyone.

"Phoebe! HURRY! You gonna be late for school!" Nora exclaimed from downstairs making her wonder what time it was. Hiding under her pillows the young superheroine wondered if she could somehow not go to school today, which was something she had never thought about before.

But you have to do everything for the first time one day, she guessed. Getting your cape-done. Fly in a plane-done. Get you and your twin kicked out of the Z-force…done.

"PHOEBE!"

"Alright, alright! I'm coming!"

Forcing herself to stand up, Phoebe started searching for something to wear. Normally she would have chosen some of her favourite clothes for the first day back at school, but today something more plain seemed to be enough. "Follow your dreams", "Be yourself", why did all of her shirts had to have these mottos on it? Pulling one after another out of her cupboard only to put them aside again, Phoebe suddenly held a black shirt in her hand. Weird. She couldn't remember buying this at all, especially because she usually didn't wear black.

But turning it around to see what clever thing was written on this one, the realization finally hit her.

"I love the Dark Side" she read out loud remembering how Max had giving her as they had planned revenge on Veronica…wow that was a long time ago.

"Maybe it still fits"

Phoebe knew talking to herself was a bit creepy, but it helped her to keep it together.

Of course she didn't love the dark side. On the other hand, it probably would maker Max laugh.

And that alone was reason enough to wear it.

_**5 minutes later, the living room:**_

"Nice shirt, Phoebe, by the way" Nora mocked her while adjusting the bow on her head.

"Good morning to you too, Nora. Where's mom?"

"Not here. Chloe started teleporting for some reason as mom wanted to give her cereal. She tried to stop her, but ended being teleported as well."

Phoebe raised an eyebrow at that story which her little sister had told with such disinterest as if it was the most normal thing on earth.

"Really? Shall I believe that?"

"It's true! Look, the cereal is still there…some fell on the floor too…"

And indeed Chloe's baby seat was still in the kitchen together with the half-filled bowl of cornflakes giving evidence for Nora's claim.

"And dad?"

"He's searching for them. But Phoebe, we need to go now or we will be late. And that includes me."

"Wait, what about breakfast?"

"There's no time for that anymore! See…school starts in half an hour!"

"Right" My god, Phoebe still wasn't fully awake somehow.

"Take the bus. And where's Max? Outside?"

"BILLY!" Nora shouted and her brother appeared next to her only seconds later.

"I'm ready to go!"

"Good, for being the fastest boy on earth you take way too long in the bathroom…"

"What can I say? It's not my fault that…-"

"No, I don't wanna know! Let's just go"she interrupted him following him towards the door where Phoebe was still standing.

"Max, Nora. Where is he?"

"He said he's sick. He won't come."

"What!?"

Phoebe's mood got even worse at this news which was something she wouldn't have thought possible.

If Max was really sick now, it was all her fault.

"Yeah, don't worry. You know him." her sister answered pulling at her arm to hopefully get her to hurry up.

"No. No, I have to stay and take care of him."

At this Nora stared at her dumbfounded, surprised by this unusual reaction.

"Phoebe, don't be silly. He's just skipping school like he did a million times before. I bet he is just fine. Besides, I talked to him this morning, so don't worry. Now move."

"But…" Looking back over her shoulder Phoebe felt herself getting rather forcefully pushed forward and out of the door by her sister and miraculously they managed to reach the bus in time.

As soon as she sat down, she pulled her phone out of her bag, opening her text messages.

_"Hey Max, Nora said you're sick. How are you?"_ she typed, then leaned back in her seat to wait for his reply. One station, two stations.

_"Max, you idiot! write back, r u okay?"_

Maybe, he's asleep Phoebe tried to comfort herself as she got off the bus, immediately getting greeted by Cherry and Oyster.

"This is going to be great year, don't you think Pheebs?"

"Sure, sure" But she couldn't really focus.

"Hi Sarah! Look, you're back, that's amazing!"

"Yes, I'm very excited too."

"Group selfie" Cherry announced putting an arm around Phoebe's shoulder as she stretched out her other arm to get all four of them on the photo.

"Phoebe, you have to at least look up for a selfie"

"Yes, sorry" she replied, managing a fake smile for the camera, while her thumb subconsciously pressed on the refresh button again and again.

_**Meanwhile, in Max's lair: **_

"I don't understand this" Max Thunderman was walking in circles in his lair not caring at all about Colosso complaining just how annoying it was. "I don't get it."

"If our king of circles would have the courtesy to tell me WHAT he doesn't understand I MAYBE could help!" the bunny interrupted his voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Oh…I doubt that…"

"You doubt me?"

"Yes. I doubt ANYONE before I figure this out!" the young superhero emphasized stopping his steps in the middle of the room.

For once he had all reason to be careful. There was probably a traitor under their roof and no matter how much this thought appalled him, at the moment the only real supervillain around was his main suspect.

"Does it have to do with what happened in Hawaii?"

"AHA! I KNEW IT!" Max exclaimed pointing at the bunny. "YOU spilled the whole story to the Hero League!"

"No"

"Yes, you did!"

"No, I DID NOT! I wasn't even there! Remember!?"

"But…why did bring it up then?!"

"Because you told me yesterday night! "

"I told you…about…oh" the boy finished lamely a little confused about how he could have forgotten. "Well…excuse me."

"Excuse you!?" Colosso raised one eyebrow at his former student who paused for a second, before he broke out into his angry rambling again:

"Someone who was with us has informed the Hero League and got us kicked out!"

"You're kicked out of the Hero League!?" the supervillain asked excited. "For real? That's amaz-"

"No, not like this, Colosso!" Max snapped back eventually getting tired of his friend's behaviour. "I did not tell. Phoebe hopefully didn't tell out of some stupid honour-code or her bad conscience…if she did, it's done and over. Nora would never and even though Billy is dumb enough to blab it out, he wouldn't be taken seriously by the Hero League if there is no adult backing him up. Same for Chloe of course." He let out an exasperated sigh and sat down on the bed, his eyes fixating the floor in concentration.

"So…?"

"So, if you're not guilty…"

"Then…?" Colosso knew exactly what it meant feeling a notion of empathy towards Max. But there was another feeling most of the time deeply buried underneath the surface, ready to rise at any occasion. God, he wanted his revenge. When, how long would it take to finally get this satisfaction?!

Max didn't answer, he didn't want to assume anything too early, hating himself already for what he was thinking. Maybe there had been a spy…but that was unlikely.

Maybe the Z-force wasn't as important.

His hands suddenly clenched to fists and he shook his head instinctively at his own thoughts. Who was he kidding? The Z-force had meant the world to his sister and at least a part of it to him.

And there it was again, the old fear of being betrayed, of being left in the dark and of being a terrible person he knew he wasn't.

Lifting his gaze he looked at a rather new poster on his wall with the signature T of Thunderman on it, written in gold in front of a blue background.

"Thunderman" he whispered, but his voice wasn't cold at all.

It was just sad and disappointed.

**_At Hiddenville High:_**

"Enough already!" Mrs Smith was a nice teacher and a few minutes ago Phoebe would have sworn that she was also one of her favourite students, but apparently even this gentle ever smiling woman's patience had its limits.

"Ms. Thunderman, please give me your phone! If you want to leave my class and write texts, you're free to do so! But not during my lesson!"

"But…!" "No, right now!"

Phoebe dropped her shoulders in defeat before slowly getting up and handing her what she had asked for. "Turn it off"

"Yes…" Great. Now she wouldn't even know it if her brother tried to call her.

"Is there a problem?" her teacher asked a hint of annoyance but also concern in her voice caused by her student's obvious struggle to leave her device with her.

"No, there's no problem. Sorry." Not wanting to raise any more attention the young superheroine turned around to take her seat again, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Wait a minute" Mrs. Smith said looking more carefully at Phoebe now, her eyes resting on the shirt she was wearing and her fuzzy hair she hadn't been able to comb in the morning.

"I wanted to ask you if you know anything about your brother? Not that I'm not used to his absence in my class…but it seemed to get better after last year's summer break." The teacher lowered her voice at the last sentence knowing this was probably a more private subject and shouldn't be discussed in front of a class.

"He's…just sick, nothing to worry about." Phoebe finished lamely. It was okayish as an excuse, but neither her teacher nor herself was truly convinced by it.

"I see. Well, I hope this won't become a…regular thing. Again."

"No, no, of course not!" Suddenly the teen couldn't help getting angry without exactly understanding why.

"Good. Turn around."

"What?"

"Turn around" the teacher repeated and Phoebe froze as she realized that she had seen her second phone in the back pocket of her jeans.

"Phoebe, why?"

"It's a second phone! So what?" How did she even see that?

"I want you to give me every cell phone you own, okay? You can have it back later!"

"But…no! No, I won't!"

The woman shook her head in exasperation. "Dentition Phoebe, tomorrow after school"

The A student's mouth fell open not believing what she as hearing there. "Why!?"

"Because you're acting like your brother…"

"That's NOT a bad thing!" Phoebe didn't care that the whole class had stopped reading at this point, shamelessly watching their discussion; she wasn't accepting anyone insulting her brother anymore. She was just done.

"It didn't mean it like that, Phoebe" her teacher tried to calm the situation down surprised by the girl's heavy reaction. In earlier days Phoebe sometimes even had told her how annoying her twin could be…

"Yes, you did. Max does that, Max is late for class, Max doesn't hand in his homework…"

"But Phoebe, sorry…" Cherry interrupted her very carefully not getting a hold of the situation at all. "He kinda does all these things you just said?"

"Well maybe…just MAYBE he has his reasons, maybe his life is not THAT easy than everybody think it is!" "Literally no one said that, Pheebs!" " There's no reason to…"

"Just…" I shouldn't have said that, Phoebe suddenly thought with rising panic. God, what was she doing!?

"…I need to…can I leave?" she asked her voice much smaller than before. Her teacher seemed irritated, but nevertheless she nodded. "You may go." And Phoebe grabbed her bag and ran out of the door wondering partly what everybody was thinking of her. But mainly about something else.

_**Meanwhile, somewhere in Metroburg**_

Jordan Hilton was a strong man who always wore a serious expression which made many think that he wasn't up for any jokes. Actually, he would explain to them, this wasn't true, but when the elevator stopped and he stepped into a complete darkness, he had to admit that this kind of humour wasn't his taste.

"Hello? Is someone here?"

Listening attentively he heard some liquid, maybe water, dripping down to the floor. But despite the room seeming empty he had the strange notion of being observed.

"I'm coming from the hero league's security unit, because a distress call was received from this location."

Carefully he reached to activate the flashlight on his glove. Now, he thought, we gonna see if someone is in here!

"There's no reason to hide!" Jordan announced loudly, while the flashlight flickered, before illuminating the area : Some grey walls and something...a huge shadow!

"What the -" While the agent's eyes had had no chance to accomodate, suddenly the all consuming darkness was back, swallowing every detail that could have helped him to orientate.

"Stupid thing.." he cursed, trying to re-activate the light, but nothing happened. The buttons were all in their "ON" positions and as he incrediously lifted his hand closer to his face, he could make out a very weak shine. His device was still on, but...

"Mr. Hilton" a dark voice startled the man out of his thoughts and he instinctively backed away, his back against the doors of the elevator.

"Yes? Stop playing games with me!"

"I am not playing games." Whoever the speaker was, he sounded very calm and Jordan got more nervous by second. "I called you here."

"Well...what's the problem? That you can't see in here?" He chuckled weakly, wondering what the protocol said was the right thing to do in such a situation.

"No. Don't worry about it. This was not a request regarding my security, but the one of two young superheros."

Turning his head left and right, Jordan tried to make out the direction the voice was coming from, but strangely enough it seemed impossible.

"Why?"

"Both are very talented and very powerful. And that they are twins makes it even more dangeroys to think of what could happen if there united force was used...in an let's say unconventional way."

"Wait ...are you talking about Thundermans' kids!?" It had to be, Jordan was sure about it. He had to report this as quickly as possible!

"Maybe. I hear there is a meeting scheduled on the 21st of August? "

"Maybe" the agent now replied in return. "I have no permission to give you such information."

"All I want is you to advice the departement to be extremly attentive during the event and not let them be seperated."

"Yes." He would tell the hero league all about this weird place too, so that...-

"No. You did not understand. This is what you report. And NOTHING else!" The last words were exclaimed, but instead of just hearing them louder, Jordan suddenly felt an immense pressure on his ears.

"I.." He had to report...and get out...

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

It was so dark..around and now inside him. Report...and...Struggling while his short term memory seemed to fade, agent Hilton blindly stumbled into the elevator, hoping to escape whatever had trapped him. The door closed, but when the light was turned on, it blinded him. Covering his face with his hands he found his way into the corridor and into the hotel entrance area where he had asked for the way just minutes ago.

"Sir? Sir?" He felt someone touch his shoulders. "Are you alright, Sir?"

Carefully pulling his hands away, Jordan looked into the worried eyes of a beautiful woman. "I am." He wanted to smile and so he did. But it didn't reach his eyes which still were glazed over. He was going to pass on a message to the hero league. He didn't know where he got it and from whom.

"Maybe I just dreamed it, but it felt important!"

He just couldn't remember.

_**End of chapter 2 **_

**Thanks for reading & I hope you enjoyed! Pls leave a review! Keep on rocking!**

**xoxo**

**Jawi**


	3. It Was The Sound Of A Crescendo

**_Let's go, chapter 3!_ **

**It Was The Sound Of A Crescendo**

"What in all world are you doing here!?"

Phoebe hadn't even cared to knock as she stomped into Max's lair, taking two steps of the stairs at once.

"I'm eating a sandwich" Max replied innocently. Brooding so much about everything that had happened, had made him hungry eventually.

"Great!"

Still fuming she went to the table where she had spotted his phone.

"I called you like 100 times this morning!"

"It's on mute"

"It's on mute…amazing…"

Max, who had put the sandwich down where it was safe, tried to put on his most innocent face as he slowly dared to approach her.

"Pheebs, sorry…did something happen?"

"No…why don't you throw your phone away if you don't know how to use it?!"

"Phoebe! Why are you so mad!?"

Just now he realized she was wearing the shirt he once gave to her and suddenly it occurred to him that he should have been at school with his sister today.

"I…stop looking at me like this!" Her voice got a pitch higher at the last sentence and for a second he was sure that she would leave. But he was mistaken.

"Like what!?" Finally letting all her frustration out, she crossed the distance between him, underlining every single word with a punch aimed at his arm.

"Will you-ow!?-stop!? "

"No"she managed to get out angrily "No. 't!"

"Ow!?" Max mumbled giving Phoebe a reproaching look. He maybe was stronger than Phoebe, but she definitively knew how to place some good punches.

Realizing she wasn't going to stop, Max gripped her wrist with his other hand, pushing her back. She made a surprised sound but still made no efforts to end their fight by landing a punch- even though it was considerably lighter one- against his chest. He tried to…-

"HEY!" Both twins froze in their movements, startled by the loud voice of her mother. No one had heard her enter…How did she even get here!? Where did she come from?

"I can't believe this! " Barb Thunderman was still holding her youngest daughter's hand as she appeared in the middle of the lair only to find her two first-borns physically fighting with each other.

"Mom, I…"

"I don't want to hear, a single word Mister! Phoebe is your sister- you don't push her!"

"It wasn't serious, mom…we didn't-"

"Phoebe! Max is your brother! You don't hit him!"

The twins stared at each other in a mix of embarrassment and lasting anger, breathing a bit accelerated from the corporal effort they had just gone through.

"What kind of behavior-"

"We were just discussing…" Phoebe started quietly, but her mom wasn't to be calmed that easily.

"In this house we discuss with WORDS!"

"Yeah, right…" Max mumbled which resulted in Phoebe pushing her elbow into his ribs to shut him up. But he wasn't having it.

"Mom, why did Chloe teleport you here!?

"I don't know!" she replied harshly, "She started this morning to teleport to completely random places…"

"But why?"

Max was looking at Chloe directly now and the little girl shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. Just happens."

"Luckily, we were always able follow her until now" Barb said clearly exhausted. "But don't try to distract from the topic! What were you two even fighting about?"

"Nothing, really" Phoebe made a second try to solve the situation which she felt had escalated because of her in the first place.

"Max didn't answer his phone all morning and I got mad at him"

Nervously she glanced at her brother who had hidden his hands in the pockets of his jeans, but the way the veins stood out on his arms, she could tell they were probably balled to fists. Why was he so tensed of all sudden?

"Why didn't you talk to him in person? Aren't you in the same class anymore?"

"Yes, but…"

This was not going well.

"But what, Phoebe?"

"I didn't go to school today, that's what." Max admitted, his chin up as if he wanted to demonstrate that he wasn't ashamed about that at all.

"Why?" his mother demanded, a dangerous sparkle appearing in her eyes which should have been warning enough.

"Because I had other stuff to do."

Barb chuckled. "Really? You feel proud of yourself?"

"No. I don't."

Looking back and forth between them, Phoebe had not the slightest idea how this was going to end. Making one last attempt to save Max from his own temper, she placed her palm between his shoulder blades, a gesture that usually calmed him, but this time he shrugged her of.

"I will have to tell your father about this, Maximus! And you can bet he will be very disappointed. You're not thirteen anymore! You have to be responsible enough to…-"

Max knew it was wrong to talk to his mother the way he just did. That he was disrespectful when he had no reason to be. But he was just so angry!

"I know."

Glad, he was finally backing of, Phoebe let out a breath she had been holding.

"Can I ask you to leave now?"

On the other side, she maybe had been too optimistic.

"Are you chucking me out?" Barb asked clearly offended, but he shook his head.

"No. I said please. My head hurts and I need to lie down for a second."

"Fine" she replied still agitated but remarkably softer this time. "Still I'm telling your dad."

"I'm not asking you to do otherwise."

"Let's go upstairs, Chloe" Barb said, and looking back once again, she suddenly felt conflicted about their whole falling-out. Did she overreact as well?

"Max" Phoebe addressed her brother loudly as soon as the door had closed behind their mom.

"What about my head hurting is so hard to understand?"

Rolling her eyes, she took a seat next to him on his bed. "Sorry. What did just happen with you? Why did you…"

He understood what she meant even without her finishing the sentence. Still he couldn't tell her, not yet before having anything to prove it.

"Nothing. I'm just crazy, that's it."

"Liar" she replied, not buying this excuse although it had managed to make her smile for the first time today.

"Phoebe, I can prove this. I just sat on my sandwich."

She laughed as she was taken off guard, but sadly, it didn't last long.

"I will tell dad, that we're…out of the Z-force. Maybe he won't punish you then."

"He will, but I don't care Pheebs. And please don't tell him just yet. Give me a day or two." She nodded thinking that he probably needed more mental preparation. Maybe she did too.

"Now, please leave me alone for a while, okay?"

"Okay." Accepting his wish, Phoebe went up to her room only to regret having agreed a few minutes later. She just didn't want to be alone with all the blame and no distraction. For the first time ever , she didn't trust herself anymore.

**Meanwhile, in the kitchen: **

"Billy, are you done yet?"

Nora had finished her homework a few minutes ago and was no watching as Billy finished his essay.

"Wait...wait...aaaand yes!" Putting the pen away Billy smiled thriumphantly presenting Nora his finished work.

"An essay about how Christoph Columbus found a way to America!"

Nora raised her eyebrows at him. "You mean how Christoph Columbus discovered it."

Billy frowned and looked at the title again. "I'm pretty sure, someone else had already discovered it, because people were there..."

"That's...actually pretty clever." Sometimes she was surprised how much sense Billy could make, if she just listened carefully.

"So I don't need to change it?"

"No, just leave it that way...but Billy?"

"Yeah?"

The smile vanished from her brother's face as he saw her worried expression.

"I wanted to talk to you...becaue I've been thinking a lot about what happened in Hawaii..."

"When I was abducted by a surfboard!?"

"No...I- Billy, you weren't abducted by a surfboard! That was evil Phoebe!"

"How can you be sure? Maybe that board hated me! Or...it wanted to take me for an awesome adventure! Yeah...! What if-"

"BILLY! Concentrate!"

This was important to her and he needed to listen.

"Sorry."

"When were in that cave and...Phoebe was back to normal again and her and Max tried and succeded to stop the eruption of the volcano- we did absolutely nothing to help!"

"Mhmm...they did pretty well without us, don't you think? Also, we helped Max destroy the power shield!"

"That's true" Nora admitted, slightly relieved that had indeed helped even though they had only been following Max's instructions.

"But we need to come up with ideas by ourselves. When Phoebe and Max have spots on the Z-force, they will be away all the time and you and I need to protect Hiddenville! We can't just wait for someone to come up with something then!"

Billy picked up his pen, playing around with it for a moment while processing what his sister had said.

"Fine. But how do we do that?"

"I don't know. And even then, will we ever be better than Max and Phoebe? They got three powers each!"

"That's nine in total!"

"No! But still a lot more than we have!"

Billy shook his head, gently placing his hand on Nora's arm.

"Don't worry Nora. We got this."

"Thanks, Billy." she replied, making eye contact.

"I trust you."

Maybe, the girl thought, that's our advantage over Phoebe and Max. Trust.

**A few hours later:**

In retrospective Phoebe thought that the circumstances that day had been less than ideal, no actually, they couldn't have been much worse to be honest:

Her parents had brought Chloe to Metroburg for a check-up, but without any result. The little girl kept on teleporting every few hours which made it necessary for someone to be at her side all the time to avoid a real drama: Chloe ending up somewhere completely alone and eventually incapable of going back on her own.

"At least, I don't think she can teleport when she sleeps, Hank, don't you think?" Barb had asked her husband, slowly growing desperate with the situation, but to tell the truth, no one exactly knew if it was possible.

Their last travel had taken them right into a raging thunderstorm which kept on blowing against the windows as Barb, Hank and their youngest entered the house completely soaked and freezing.

"Mom, dad…" Phoebe who had been sitting on the sofa, watching some movie to keep her mind off of things, immediately hurried over to pass them a towel.

"Thank you sweetheart" Barb mumbled gratefully, "but I guess one towel won't be enough!"

"I can get more from the bathroom…-"

"Done!" Billy suddenly appeared next to her, carrying a bunch of towels in his arms.

"Thank you, son!"

"And I brought you new clothes" Nora added, approaching them as well.

"Wow, you're all so helpful!" Barb praised them.

"Well, not all of them. Phoebe, is your brother still faking a headache to get out of school or did he come out of his room eventually?"

Not really knowing how to respond to her father without throwing her twin under bus, Phoebe hesitated to answer.

"I'm here, Dad." Startled she turned around to find Max in the kitchen, arms crossed and leaning against the counter.

"Well, come here! Your mom told me everything about you missing class the first day of-"

"And I want to apologize."

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Hank sat down on the couch, studying Max carefully.

"For not going…-"

"No, for being harsh to mom. I just felt sick this morning-that's all. You weren't there, so I couldn't tell you. "

"Is that true?"

"Yes."

Phoebe didn't understand the world anymore. Why this sudden change of mood? Didn't he plan on admitting everything?

Hank seemed deeply in thought for a moment. "Okay then…let's just forget about it."

He was willing to let it go and if it was just due to the fact they had enough other problems to take care of. Max was different now- he was competing for a Z-force spot, he trained daily with his sister and his grades had gone up too. Maybe he could even help them right now…

"You don't have any idea what is happening with Chloe, do you son?"

This question seemed to surprise the boy.

"Not really. When she was smaller, I tried to find out how she orientates while teleporting…she uses the earth's magnetic field, but that's not all. She could still teleport wearing my super magnet, even though her aiming wasn't as precise as before. If you could…yeah get me a map or a list with all the places she landed since this started, I might be able to find out more. I can check for disturbances in the magnetic field worldwide, the weather, solar storms or increase of…"

"Thank you, Max" Hank said actually hopeful. "Let's try your idea."

"It's not really an idea. It's just a possibility" he replied simply. "And I got a question too, dad."

"Well ask away, son"

Hank seemed much more at ease after their previous exchange, sitting down on his favorite spot on the sofa and leaning back into the cushions.

"Did you report your fight against Destructor to the Hero League? I mean, dad, you could easily get another super award for that!"

His father smiled, visibly flattered by the comment.

"Yes, I did indeed. And everyone was very impressed! Hopefully not too surprised though- I am Thunderman after all!"

Max laughed and even though to a stranger it had to appear goodheartedly, it was probably the fakest laugh Phoebe had ever heard from him. The cup of tea he was holding seemed to vibrate, a few drops of the hot liquid making contact with his skin…

"Great, great. Did you tell someone else about it?"

"Mhm…oh yeah, my friend Barry called yesterday evening! It was a nice surprise- I haven't seen him in years!"

"Who's Barry, dear?" Barb interrupted him.

"A friend from school- I don't think you know him!"

"I heard of him, dad! Barry Turner, right? What did he say? Did you talk about Phoebe and me?"

This eager voice, the smile-all of this wasn't Max. It was someone else, an act and Phoebe feared to see the end of it.

"Oh, he loved the story. He wanted to hear all the details!"

"But Hank, you didn't tell this man about Phoebe freeing…you know, about what she –non-deliberately- did?" Worry and disbelief was shining through their mother's voice, but their father just shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. Maybe. It doesn't matter- he's just a friend."

A damped noise told Phoebe that her brother had finally put his drink down, unable to keep his hands from trembling anymore. Slowly everything fell into place.

"Yeah, he's just a friend, mom!" Max repeated as if to back up his father. "Barry Turner is a friend of us who even works for the Hero League's Security Departement! What an exceptional "friend"!"

In a rush, the grin vanished from his father's face. "I didn't know that…"

"Yeah, I know. At least you didn't rat us out on purpose! "

"Max! What do you mean by…."

But the young man motioned them to be quiet, closing his eyes for a second as if to calm himself down.

"That's all I wanted to know. Thank you."

"Max, did you and Phoebe get in trouble? Phoebe, what happened?" Barb turned to her daughter who was sitting next to her.

"I…I…"

"Nothing happened" Max said quickly and too quickly to sound believable.

"Son, tell us! I apologize, if it was my fault! It's not that…" Hank approached him, but Max wasn't making any eye contact.

"Don't. Touch .Me." He pushed his father's arm away, harder than usual which earned him a reproaching glance from his mother.

"Don't act like that."

Phoebe felt like crying-right now she felt like a little girl who just wanted to stop everyone from fighting with each other. Her own father had told on them, had destroyed their dream of entering the Z-force once and for all…but she was not disappointed in him. She deserved all this after what had happened. But Max not. Nothing of this was his fault!

"I told you over and over and over: I don't like to be touched without being asked! I don't like to be left in the dark about decisions you make over my life! But you never listen anyway!"

It was weird, Nora thought, how Max suddenly talked to his parents like they had talked to him so many times before. It was like they had suddenly exchanged roles.

"Son, I see why you're upset. But I ask you to sit down and discuss this with us calmly…-"

At the last word, the vase which had been standing on the table moved on its own and came crashing down next to their feet.

Immediately Barb jumped out of her seat. "Max…" If her son was losing control of his powers now, he wasn't just upset or angry. She knew the feeling, because power surges were something with what she had to deal a lot in her life and especially in her youth. It wasn't nice and she didn't want any of her children to experience it.

His eyes fixed on the broken glass on the ground, Max made a quick decision, hurrying over to the -and gripping one of his jackets. The storm was still raging outside.

"I need to leave. I'm sorry, I need to leave" he stated hastily, before turning his steps towards the door.

"Max, that's nonsense. Come back right now!" Hank ordered loudly.

"I need to. I need to get out of here."

"Max, if you just calmed down and tell us what-"

But Max ignored both his parents' advice, searching for the key to unlock the door.

"Max, don't go…" Phoebe whispered, her face in her hands to hide her up-welling tears. Don't go.

"This is my house! As long as you live here, you follow my rules!" Hank exclaimed and indeed Max, who was just about to step out into the darkness, turned around once more.

"Well, good for you. Goodbye!"

And then the door slammed shut.

End of chapter 3

**_Yay, guys, another chapter and I hope you liked it! Thank you for reading and if you want to, please review! It's free ;) _**

**_I hope you're all having a wonderful day!_**

**_xoxo_**

**_Jawi_**


	4. Lost

_**Chapter 4: Lost**_

After the door had been shut behind her twin with such finality, the rest of the family fell silent for a moment, completely shocked. They hadn't expected this. None of them.

"What in all world did just happen?" Hank asked agitated, turning around to face everyone else, confusion and guilt visible on his face.

"Phoebe?"

Suddenly all the attention was on her and Phoebe knew she had to explain everything now, but she really didn't know where to begin with. Or how to speak properly.

"I...it's complicated...we need to go after him!" Shaking slightly, she got to her feet, making a few steps towards the window. "The storm..."

She didn't want to do this alone. Not without him. Not like this.

"You are right..." Barb replied tiredly, apparently just slowly coming to terms with the whole situation.

"But what did Max mean?! What happened with the Z-force!?"

"It's not the right time, Hank!"

"Well, I think it is! THIS is what all of this is about!"

"It was. Now FIRST we need to find Max!"

Nora, who had been sitting on the sofa, watched her parents discussion with a frown, not liking how they were handling Max's sudden outburst. She knew his temper and she wondered why they didn't realize that fighting with him or each other was useless. And stupid.

"Chloe, come here..." she said softly, waving at her little sister, who had been watching the conversation with wide eyes, hoping to console her in some way.

"Nora?" Billy whispered close to her ear. "Should I...go after Max?"

Taking Chloe's small hand in her's, Nora shook her head, before placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"No, not yet. He needs to be alone and cool down for a while."

"But what about what he said..." he continued worriedly. "Oh shush, Billy! You know Max! He's impulsive and says stuff he doesn't mean! He'll be back."

"Well, if I can't know what's happening in my own family anymore, if that's what you're trying to say...!" Hank exclaimed angrily.

"Of course not! I''m sure all of this is a big misunderstanding!" Barb gave back loudly, raising her hands to indicate her husband to calm down.

With little success.

"It still should be POSSIBLE to ask Phoebe..." But no one found out what exactly their dad wanted to ask as a sudden flash lit up the room.

A scream.

"CHLOE!"

Phoebe jumped towards the sofa, attempting to reach her younger siblings, but too late. She collided with the pillows, all three of them already gone, teleported to a unknown place with no one else by there side.

"NO! THE CHILDREN!"

"BARB, WHAT DO WE DO!?"

Electrice herself was used to stressful, new situations, especially because she had five kids. Still, in the last ten minutes he had somehow managed to lose four of them.

"I don't know!"

Taking deep breaths, Barb tried to keep her composure. Thinking about it all, they weren't as hopeless as it seemed.

"Billy is with them, Hank! He's with them and he can carry Chloe and Nora or at least get back here to tell us where they are! "

Phoebe nodded as her mother searched her gaze, agreeing that she had a point. Instinctively she pulled out her phone to check on the time.

Five seconds...ten seconds...

"He'll be here any moment, Hank...I'm sure"

Thirty seconds...one minute.

"He's the fastest boy on earth..."

The clock kept ticking and the wind blew against the door with such force that it sounded like knocking. But no one arrived.

"Two minutes" Phoebe read out loud, before looking up to her mother who's eyes were now filled with fear.

This wasn't normal. Billy could run much faster than that. He should have been back by now.

"Barb, the Thundervan!" Hank commanded quickly, already storming out of the house to get the vehicle out of the garage.

"No, Phoebe! You stay here!" Barb knew it maybe wasn't rational, but she wanted to make sure at least one of her family members stayed safe.

"But...Max..."

"He'll be fine. You wait here for the case any of them is back before us!" her mother tried to convince her, but unable to keep the panic out of her voice.

Then she ran outside as well, leaving Phoebe all alone in the empty living room which had been crowded just minutes ago. Sitting there she felt so useless...everything had spun out of control so quickly and now she wasn't even allowed to help! Nevertheless, she wasn't going to cry, Phoebe had sworn herself, but as everyone was out sight, her shoulders started to shake on their own. It was all her fault and she knew it. She had never felt less than a superheroine than right now.

_**Meanwhile, somewhere in Hiddenville:**_

It had finally stopped raining as Max made it through what must have been the twentieth street, drenched and shivering from the cold wind. The storm-or so he thought- had probably taken down a pilar somewhere near because the whole neighbourhood was drowning in darkness.

Maybe it also was his bad luck. Yeah, that was even more likely. If someone would have seen him now wandering around like this after curfew, they for sure would have thought he was just running away, but Max Thunderman actually knew pretty much where he was heading to. It wasn't far away, but with every step the way seemed to get longer and that his head was still pounding in an after effect of his power surges didn't make it easier to concentrate.

He had just decided to make a call as a sudden wave of nausea hit him, forcing him to stop. "Damn it." This was just such a waste of time. He should have stayed home.

Not trusting his stomach enough to keep walking, Max took a step towards a dustbin on the sidewalk, leaning on it for support. If he could just get his phone out…and…

"Hey…hey you?"

God, please no. Who was that?! The voice didn't sound unfriendly though and whoever was speaking seemed to approach him. Suddenly, everything became a bit clearer- the boy was illuminating the way with his phone. Smart idea. Why didn't he do that!?

"Brosif?" He felt a hand on his shoulder, but Max didn't have the energy to shrug it away.

"Max, bro? What ya doing out here?"

"Oyster?" Max gave back, finally recognizing his friend's voice.

"Yeah, man! What ya lookin for?"

Max could not have remembered he had ever been so grateful to see the guitarist. Yes, he was slightly crazy and sometimes getting on his nerves, but he wasn't easy to handle too. Most importantly, he really trusted him.

"Actually" Max started, lifting his head. "I was looking for you."

Oyster smiled, but very soon his expression turned into one of confusion.

"In there?" he pointed towards the dustbin. "Dude, why should I be in there? Do I even fit in there!?...Wait a second."

"No, no…" Max stopped his attempt, chuckling despite feeling miserable. "I'm just not feeling well."

Putting his leg down again, Oyster seemed a bit disappointed, because he had been sure that he would have managed to get in! But at Max's second comment he became concerned.

"Bro, sh*t man, you shouldn't be drinking"

What the heck…oh, of course he was thinking that!

"I'm not drunk" he answered slowly, letting go of his support to straighten up.

"Ya sure? How did ya even get here?"

This was a really good question. Now in the light of Oyster's phone his surrounding didn't seem too familiar.

"Where are we?"

"Close to the mall. There was a late sale there. I called you if you wanted to come, but ya didn't answer." His friend was still staring at him as if he didn't fully believe him.

"I wanted to call you too."

"Why?"

Heck, no when he thought about it sounded a bit pathetic to his own ears. But whatever.

"Can I stay at yours tonight? I can't really be around my parents at the moment…"

"Sure bro. My car is right there, on the left side."

His voice was filled with worry and Max took the chance to pat him on the arm.

"Oyster, I'm okay. I'll rest and I'll be fine."

"Huh? Oh yeah." The blonde kept looking into the void.

"Oyster?"

"Or was it the right side? Left or right? Right or left? What's the difference? When I come from here it's on my left side…left AND right…"

God, no.

**At the same time, a million miles away, in the middle of the ocean:**

"Yayyy!"Chloe threw her little arms in the air as the small wooden boat swayed back and forth with the movement of the waves, leaving it to Nora to make her sit down again. "No! Stay down! It's dangerous!"

Her feet were already wet, because water kept entering now and then and all she could do was keep Chloe calm and close to her so she wouldn't fall into the sea.

"Billy!" She had to nearly scream to get his attention, because the wind and the waves made so much noise. "Again, are you positive you can't just run over water!? Like real quick?"

"Nope!" he exclaimed, holding on to the small wooden mast for dear life. This didn't look good at all.

"Chloe!" Nora forced herself to keep going. "Do you know where we are?!" But the little girl shook her head. "And you can't bring us back?" The small girl seemed to concentrate for a moment, but without any effect.

"DAMN IT!"

Nora didn't even care that Chloe stared at her. What even happened to the person who had been in this boat first!? And would the same thing happen to them?

"You shouldn't swear in front of Chloe!" Billy shouted out, letting out a little shriek as a larger wave raised their boat up.

"I KNOW! It's just hard to find the words!" She wasn't even sure if Billy could hear her from over there, but she didn't dare to move.

"What did you say?...ANY LAST WORDS?!"

"NO! I didn't...JUST FORGET IT!" They needed to find a way to orientate themselves and reach solid land quickly. Or else...

"If this is the end..." Billy started, trying to turn around to his sisters. "I want you to know, I have no secrets to hide from you! Except one!"

"Me too!"she replied. "Wait...WHAT? WHAT'S YOUR SECRET?"

Please, come in handy, she prayed, please be something really cool.

"I CAN'T SWIM!"

"DAMN IT!"

"NORA!"

**Meanwhile, in front of Oyster's house in Hiddenville:**

"Thank you again, officer!"

"Sure..." the tall man scratched his head, clearly not amused over having volunteered to search for a car for half an hour. "Just please remember where you parked the next time, okay?"

"He will" Max responded quickly, not willing to discuss this matter any longer. He was freezing and couldn't wait to get inside.

As soon as they had entered, Max pulled off his jacket, realizing just now that it was completely drenched. Great. Normally that would have angered him, but this evening he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Hello, Oyster! How was the sell?"

A deep, but cheerful voice startled him out of his train of thoughts and for the first time ever he saw his friend's dad, who just had walked out of the kitchen.

"Was alright, dad. How was work?"

Oh right, he remembered, Oyster had once told him his father was a doctor or something.

"Stressful, but I can't complain. I see you brought a friend!"

Oh please no, Max thought, trying to put on a smile while just wishing to end this encounter as quickly as possible. He was in no mood for small talk.

"Hi...I'm Max" he introduced himself, shaking the man's outstretched hand. It occured to him that he didn't even know Oyster's last name. Awkward.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Robert" They looked at each other for a moment, before Robert fondly smiled at Max who wondered what caused this reaction.

"You can let got of my hand now, pal"

"Oh...sorry" Yep, he was still horrible at this.

"Oyster told me a lot about you, you know"

"That can't be good" Max replied without realizing he had spoken this last sentence out loud.

Robert chuckled and shook his head. "Quiet, the opposite to be honest."

Not knowing what to reply or how to react, Max looked at his friend for help as he felt more and more tired by second. Gladly, the other got the hint.

"I invited Max to stay over for tonight. That's okay, right?"

"Of course. Do you want to eat anything?"

Oyster turned towards Max, who gently shook his head no, before answering. "I don't think so. Max is really tired."

Nodding, Robert suddenly approached his son's friend, a bit surprised to see the boy flinch back as he touched his arm.

"Hey...you're sure you're alright there, Max?"

"Yes"

He could feel the teen was shaking and wondered if he had a fever. The doctor inside him wanted to check on him immediately, but he feared that Max would shy away completely. Maybe he just needed some space.

"Fine, you can go upstairs"

Not waiting for a second invitation, Max immediately started climbing up the stairs to Oyster's room which he had already seen a couple of times.

"Make sure to lend him a dry shirt and get him warmed up, okay?" Robert indicated as his son followed his friend.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him."

Oyster didn't need to be told that.

**And that's it for now =) What will happen next? Will Oyster get Max to talk? Will Billy and Nora get out of there and prove themselves? And what about Phoebe?  
**

**Many questions and they will be answered in the next chapter ;)**

**How do you like the story so far?**

**Pls leave a review (I also appreciate constructive criticism!) and thanks to all the new followers!**

**See you next time!**


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